Your Attention Please

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Your Attention Please

 

" Passengers, Your Attention, Please" a familiar voice emanated from

the speaker in the central station calling for our attetntion.

 

Students do not talk, Be attantive -commanded the teacher in the class.

 

"Can you turn your attention from serials to your homework" is the

regular dialogue from the mother to the kid in the evenings.

 

The mobile phones, land lines act as a deterrent in concentration.

When I viist the client places, these interrupt the attention that is

needed for the subject matter.

 

We can observe the common thread in the above scenes. Everyone is

craving for attention-Undivided Attention. This matarialisitc and

fast world does not allow that to happen and alas! attantion has

become a scarce commodity.

 

How about the Lord ? one may wonder. Let us take Sri Nam-AzhwAr's words from Thriu-voi-mozhi.

 

"Chikkenach siRidhOar idamum pulappadAth thannuLLEa, vulagugaL okkavEA

vizhungi, pugundhAn,pugandhadhaRpin,

engum pakka nOkkaRiyAn -en painthAmaraik-kaNNanEa" 2-6-2.

 

The Lord wanted to attend to Sri Nam-AzhwAr without any disruption,

without any interception whatsoever, ceaselessly, without any

distractions. When a person wants to be free from disturbance what

does he does?.He finishes off all his pressing works and then settles

down with whatever he wants to do with peace of mind. Similarly, the

Lord did not want any 'SOS' call from anybody. He took care of the

whole world.Swallowed in Him and tucked it safely in the belly and

after that with great peace of mind, entered AzhwAr's mind to cherish

the stay there without any perturbance. He did not see this way that

way and the Lotus eyed Lord-engum pakka nOkkaRiyAn.This is akin to a

king completing all his royal duties ere entering the andhappuram.

 

Two references in EDu are worth noting in this regard.

One is a reference where the Lord had got distracted and one is when

the devotees do not attribute due atteniton when they enter the

temples to worship the Lord.

 

When Sri ALa vandhAr appraoched Sri kurugai kAvalappan who was in

yOgam and was interacting with the Lord passively, he could sense, a

sense of restlessness from the Almighty. The Great Supreme, who

normally never gets distracted even when the pirATTimAr-s beckon Him,

started to peep with curiosity towards the entrance. Immediately

relaising the situation, Sri Kurugai kAvalappan enquired " ingu

sottai kulathavar yArEanum vandhAr vuNDA?" referring to Sri

Yamunaith thuRaivar's nearness.

That reflects the undivided attention the paramAthmA attributes to the jEvAthmA.

 

Sri Nam-piLLai refers to some devotees who remove their footwears at

the entrance of the temple and constantly think of these chappals

outside when they are inside the sanctum-sanctorum. They think of

these sandals when they ought to be concentrating the Lord. 'seRuppu

vaithu thiruvadith thozhuvAraip pOlEa' says swAmi Nam-piLLai.

 

The Almighty gave us the physical body, sAsthrAs and goes on repeating

this act like a farmer -SombAdhu ippallurivai ellAm padarvitha

vithA-for ages. He is waiting in diva-dhEsams like thirunaRaiyUr,

thiruvarangam, thirukkurugUr-ninRa Adhip pirAn niRka-to retireve us

eternally. He tries to extricate us from materialstic attachments

--vaN kaLavanEan manatthai valithu --Thriuvoimozhi 5-1-4;

 

We, the mortals, riding on our mundane pursuits and immersed in the

worldly pleasures refuse to meet Him eye to eye. Deny to acknolwedge

the nature of the jEvAthmA and ParamAthmA and stubbornly insist on

the attachments for ever.

 

Unlike the common perception, He is craving for our attention and not vice-versa .

 

He is looking for us and tacitly wants and says

 

"Your Attention Please"

 

dAsan

vanamamalai padmanabhan